Green Thumb

(Above: mid- Summer 06 or 07, Baltimore)

It's that time of year. I found myself thinking about gardening this morning. Specifically, sad that I would miss the growth of the perennials I planted in our Baltimore backyard and trying to decide what flowers to plant here and how best to use our small gardening space. Anyone have experience with "verticlal gardening"?

When we were rehabbing our Baltimore rowhouse, we took a break from indoor work in the spring so that we could focus on the backyard. We had room for a little yard, flowers and vegetables. It was the perfect size, in some way. We didn't spend lots and lots of time doing tedious yard work (no huge yard that had to be mowed again), but we had enough to feel connected to nature and creation.

Above - Digging in Spring 08, Baltimore
Below - bird's eye view from the kitchen roof, late summer 08, Baltimore


Each year I would rearrange the perennials I had. Somehow we worked it out that Dan took care of planning the vegetable garden and I puttered around with the flowers. A great arrangement.

Last year we moved in June, so I got to watch my perennials grow and I filled pots with flowers and herbs and brought them along. We planted a little vegetable garden in our new place.



Now I find myself trying to plan in a new space. We have less growing space, so I'll have to use more pots. Plus, some of the ones (see below) I had put in the front of the house were stolen, so I'm trying to decide what to put there. I'm thinking a really BIG pot that is so HEAVY no one can just walk away with it or quickly load it into a car!